Madness
by Flood4
Summary: Everyone is still in Ba Sing Se. But Azula and her team have also gotten inside, and are looking for the Avatar. Imagine their surprise when they also find Zuko and Iroh inside the walls.
1. Insomnia

Hello. Yeah. A story. I will try to put alot of action and stuff into it, so... Yeah. I might put a pairing or two in, if I get enough reviews. Anywho... Yeah.

---

What an exciting night. Man, I've got to watch out for freaks like that.

Zuko was lying in his bed, sleep evading him. He was thinking of earlier that night, when Jet had attacked him and Uncle Iroh. He had called them fire benders, and was correct. How did he know though? How was he so sure we were what we were? These thoughts plagued him.

He laid thinking about it for a long time, but eventually his eyelids got heavy and he fell to sleep. Outside, the full moon shone brightly. It shone into the room through the western window. Judging by its position, it was about three o'clock in the morning.

A small cricket-roach scuttled across the floor. It began to chirp loudly. Zuko silently twitched in his sleep. The cricket chirped louder. Zuko slowly opened his eyes. The cricket chirped louder still.

Suddenly, Zuko jerked up and sent flame down on the cricket, setting it ablaze and instantly killing it. He quickly blew out the dead bug's remains and threw it out the window. Then Zuko put his head back down on the small pillow and hoped that sleep would return to him.

---

A few hours before, Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka had gotten back to their temporary home. Because of their behavior earlier, at the party, guards were station outside the house to make sure none of them snuck out. They were now under house arrest.

"I can't believe this!" Sokka yelled when they got inside. "We can't go anywhere! We have to stay inside all day! I'm going to go crazy in this house!"

The rest of the group sighed. They were all stuck in this house for an unknown amount of time. They could be let out today, it could be tomorrow. But it didn't matter. The point was, they were never going to get the information to the king or find Appa at this rate.

"Let's just get some sleep," Katara sighed. "We'll think of some way to get out of this tomorrow."

So, they all found their own places to sleep. Aang lay awake for a few hours, thinking about all that had happened over the last few days. It seemed like months ago that he had first started on the Serpent's Path, when in fact it was only a few days ago. So many things had happened. There was the battle of taking out the drill. Then he remembered fighting Azula, and how desperate a battle it had been. And fighting that giant sea serpent was quite a battle. And he remembered the hope he had found when he saw the new born baby, and how it had affected him.

And that was only the half of it. He remembered when he had first laid his eyes on the wall, and how he was filled with happiness at how close he was to his goal. He had come so far in such a short amount of time.

He closed his eyes and let his mind drift. He thought of other important times he had come across since first finding Katara and Sokka and starting his quest. His first encounter with Zuko. Finding the air temple and its remains. Kyoshi island. Omashu, and his return to the city months later. The earth kingdom village where they had met the boy and Katara had lost here necklace. His trips into the spirit world. Those pirates from which they had gotten the water bending scroll. Meeting Jet, and finding out his true ambitions. The canyon. The great storm. Being captured by Admiral Zhao, and being rescued by Zuko, in a blue mask. The fortune teller and the volcano. Bato. Jeong Jeong. The northern Air Temple. All of the long time in the North Pole, and all the things both bad and good that had happened there.

Then there was the wicked general, the Cave of Two Lovers, the swamp that was shrouded in mystery, Avatar Day, first meeting Toph, the long chase into the night when he had gotten no sleep, trying to learn earth bending with Toph as a teacher, and the entire tragedy in the dessert.

So much had happened. So many enemies had they met and faced. But yet somehow or another, even when enemies grew more powerful every time they encountered them, they always won, or at least survived. This will pass, Aang thought. We have faced worst, and always come out alright. There is more to it than luck that we have survived this long. It must be destiny.

With that thought, Aang faded into sleep.


	2. Calm Before the Storm

Zuko once again failed to find sleep. But this time it was for a different reason. That girl, Jen, had made a big impact on him. He had never really had anyone even close to a girlfriend in all his years, but then one girl who meets him gets almost girlfriend status in only one date. Life could be so confusing.

Once again, a cricket chirped loudly. This one was outside the window, singing its song of annoyance. Zuko took a long sigh. There must be an infestation of the little things.

This time, instead of scorching the thing, he simply flicked it off the window. It went flying, landed on the roof, and rolled off. It hit the ground hard. It was stunned from the high fall.

An unwitting lady who happened to be walking along stepped on it and heard a crunching noise. She drew back her foot and looked at the underside of her shoe. She screamed in discuss and quickly wiped her foot on the ground, taking off the bug guts.

Zuko sighed and let his eyes rest. He thought about the previous day and let sleep take him.

---

Miles away, outside the city's walls, Azula and her crew stood outside their make shift camp inside a cave and pondered what they should do next. They had decided for a long time now that they must somehow infiltrate Ba Sing Se. However, they had only their fire nation clothes and if seen in the city with them on they would be instantly killed, or at least take prisoner.

One thing was for certain though. If anyone was going in, it was Azula, Mai, and Tai Lee. Azula had made it very clear that she was going to be the one to capture the Avatar, and she knew she would need her team for assistance.

More than likely, Tai Lee and Mai would just have to change their hair style or cut it to elude notice. However, Azula's hair was already cut short, and changing the style wouldn't help. Cutting it at this point wouldn't solve anything. She would just have to cover her face.

After a long discussion, they agreed on the plan that the girls would change their hair and appearance to blend in with the rest of the civilians. However, there was still the matter of clothing. There had to be someone from whom they could get regular clothing, or else they would never make it into the city.

---

Aang was busy walking the streets. Ever since he had made that new zoo, things had been fun. He was invited to stay all day and have fun. He met a lot of people, many of whom were overjoyed to meet the Avatar. However, after the excitement died down, people left, and so did he.

That was how he got here. Wandering the streets, seeing what there was to be seen. As he was walking, few people stopped and talked to him, but once in a while he was greeted. Usually they were just people going home, or couples out on dates.

However, just now two men had come by, one telling the other about a certain tea shop. "Oh yeah," said one. "It's true. This freak with hooky swords came in and attacked them!" His partner shook his head in disbelief. "But it gets better!" continued the first. "The kid working there, goes by the name of Lee, fought him back with two swords. I've never seen such impressive sword play in all of my days."

"I'm sorry man. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that that story seems a little far-fetched." The first shook his head. "Ask anyone. After the sword fight, the Dai-Li came in and dragged the freak with the hooky swords away." The second sighed and shook his head, thinking of what this boy's fate was, now that he was in the hands of the Dai-Li.

Aang thought about what they had said as they walked on. How strange, a fight in a tea shop. He didn't know why, but the mention of the kid with the "hooky swords" gave him an ominous feeling. Somehow, that sounded familiar. Oh well, it was probably nothing.

As he walked, he came upon a peculiar chirping. It was cricket-roach, just like the ones from the tea shop. Aang looked it over, and then sighed. There were so many of the things. Somehow or another, these things are going to be bad news. He didn't know how right he was.

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Well, I know these two have been a wee bit boring. But trust me, things are going to "heat up" really soon. R+R please, it gives me more reasong to keep writing.


	3. Discovery

It was only a few days after the incidents inside Ba Sing Se. Azula and her team had made it into the city. The day before, they had captured two earth benders from the city. They had taken them prisoner. From those two they got their clothes, which they slightly altered and hair styles changed. Now they were inside the city, looking for a certain boy with an arrow on his head.

"Split up," Azula commanded. "We will cover more ground. Meet back here at dusk. If you see or hear anything that could lead to us finding the Avatar, it will benefit you greatly to tell it." The other girls nodded, understanding that she meant business. And with that they parted company, intent on finding their prey.

---

Business at the tea shop was busy, as usual. It was about twelve o'clock and the lunch crowd was in. Many had brought food from other shops and bakeries, but a few simply had the tea that was served to them. Sure, there were a few other things on the menu, but no one went to the best tea shop in Ba Sing Se for the food.

Zuko was in a somewhat happy mood. Despite his leaving Jen on the date, she had come the next day, still happy. It was obvious that she understood, and that it was okay. He remembered the night and smiled happily to himself.

He was interrupted as yet another cricket chirped loudly on the counter. He sighed with annoyance and squashed it with a gloved hand. He then disposed of the bug and continued serving eager customers.

---

As Azula made her way through the city, she felt somewhat awkward. She was used to the way it was in the Fire Nation, when wherever she went she was greeted and people bowed low to her. However, here in Ba Sing Se, few had even heard of her. Those who had would never recognize her in her new clothes. As she walked, no one seemed to notice here at all.

As she was walking, one rude man bumped her to the side, causing her to stumble. She regained her balance in an instant, and looked at the man with a stare of silent hatred. The man didn't even acknowledge her, and kept on walking. She ran up to him and tapped him impatiently on the back.

He turned around, mad with annoyance. "What do you want, you little peasant?" He was obviously a man of high social status in Ba Sing Se. "You knocked me over," she replied. The man laughed and continued walking down the road.

Azula had to hold herself back from shooting a fire ball at the man. What arrogance, she thought. Insulting me, calling me a lowly peasant. She made a mental note to hunt him down and eliminate him when the time came.

---

Back at the tea shop, it was more packed than ever. So many people were showing up. It was amazing that the small shop cold hold so many. But the customers didn't mind the small size and continued to consume the tea.

As Zuko was walking towards a table of three, he heard a distinct crunching noise under his foot. Darn it, another blasted cricket. Those things were so annoying. They seemed to pop up wherever he went.

After a moment or two, he continued on his way and laid the tray on the table. The group sitting there thanked him and he walked away. A few seconds later, a loud noise behind him caused him to jerk around to see what it was. There was a shriek from one of the girls sitting at the table, and a man was standing up pointing to his tea.

"There's a cricket in my tea!" he shouted to no one in particular. He yelled it again, making sure no one was unaware. He then ran out the door of the shop, yelling his news to people as he went.

---

Azula continued to walk for a while, still steamed at the man from before. She thought of all the things she would do to him when the Fire Nation finally invaded (successfully, that is). Since the incident, her anger had steadily increased. Now, she was quite literally ready to kill.

As she walked, she heard a man yell out something loudly. She walked silently over to the source of the sound, ready to investigate. Many others had also heard the yell and were hurrying toward the source. It must be nothing, she thought. Probably some idiot stubbed his toe. However, never hurt to investigate.

The man was yelling something stupid, she soon found out. It was something about a bug in his tea or something. Nothing worth noting. However, she then heard something that caught her attention.

"It was that kid with the face! He was the one that served us our tea! It must have been him!" Azula hurried over at the mention of the "kid with the face". She asked him what he meant by this. "Some boy about your age with this mark on his face. I know it was him! You can't trust children around food!"

She quickly tuned him out and went to the window of the shop. Then her thoughts we confirmed. She had not found the Avatar, but something of almost equal value. Her family. Zuko and Iroh. Unsuspecting, and ready to be taken.

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Thank you for R+Ring. It gave me more initiative to go on. I should be able to update often, and I'll try to make the next chapter a bit longer. But I am glad to finally put the crickets into the story line. Foreshadowing rocks.


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